[L, diary, ephēmeris] 1) BLOG

"Go as far as you can see...when you get there, you can see farther."

I'm quoting the above without reference to who said it because there was more than one attribution and I simply don't care who said it, just want to use it as a preface for why this post may leave readers wondering where I am going with these things.  Me, too.  When I get there, I'll be posting that, too.

This morning I am overcome with a compulsion to again quote Todd Walton, specifically page 244 from his book, Under The Table Books. It positively leapt out at me months ago when I read it for the first time. The echos of my own experiences and current dreams were so strong I immediately photocopied it, intending to do this very thing of posting, then felt stupid...couldn't sort out what purpose it had, or why I would feel so strongly the need to do it. 

The simplest answer is my first thoughts:  MY GOD HE'S WRITTEN WHAT I'VE DONE AND WANT TO DO AGAIN!

So here it is, Todd Walton's Derek speaking alongside a few whimsically annotated photos found quickly to illustrate just SOME of the wonderful projects that were done during the days of One Candle Schoolhouse:

     "The thing is, now that I’m settled and Jenny teaches me art and Natasha teaches me cooking and dancing and Mustafa teaches me numbers and history and baking and Frisbee, and I’ve learned how to work the bookstore counter, and I hang out with Mr. Laskin everyday, I’m starting to see maybe what I’ll do when I grow up.

I think we should move to an island and have a boat

 

  and a garden

 

  and a big house

and a school for kids who don’t have families.

 

We’ll teach them how to grow vegetables and fish and play baseball

and make their own clothes

and bake bread

 

and carpentry

 

and music,

 

...along with how to mange their money.

Lots of practical stuff mixed with fun stuff.

'After the school gets going, I might start a band because Denny taught me some fundamental minor seventh chords on the piano and the other day I started writing a song Indira heard and said was beautiful. I’m not sure how it’s going to end, but I’m pretty excited because the song just came to me while I was improvising and Jenny says creations come to you when they recognize you’re a artist they can express themselves through...

So maybe that’s what I’ll be, some sort of artist with a school for kids. 

 

We are ALL perfectly wonderful souls, so do not let anyone imply you aren't.

---------------------------------

Addendum: Four years later, it is now June of 2020, I have just discovered I left out the final and most important paragraph of Walton's story.  How I happened to discover that, today, can be found in the post, A GIFT, but here's the missing paragraph that explains the above last sentence:

 

"Last night by the fire at my cave I sang Mr. Laskin the start of my song. At first when I finished singing he didn’t say anything. He just stared at the flames for a long time, and then he added a few twigs and said, “Derek, the thing is, you’ve begun to bear fruit, and that, above all, is our purpose here. Bless you and your song. Do’t ever listen to anyone who says you aren’t a perfectly wonderful soul.”

I've been working hard on revising a 2007 slideshow, made for a most special guest teacher at the now defunct One Candle Schoolhouse.  Now that it is finally pasted into this post, I am conflicted as to how it should be introduced.   

 

F. Scott Fitzgerald observed:

"The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise."

While I do have the ability to hold two (and usually MORE) opposed ideas at the same time, having the ability to still function opts me out of the first-rate intelligence category...except for the second sentence Fitzgerald adds, which I personify: the fundamental reason for having so many conflicting ideas is fully due to embracing Don Quioxte visions and their pursuit. Yup.  I fully qualify. 

SO--though the One Candle Schoolhouse (2002-2009) and the two Bright Lights Community Learning Centers (2008-2013) projects are no longer functioning, what was conceived and brought into fruition for a combined eleven years brought truly immeasurable benefits to all who participated.    So much so, that (mounting my semi-spavined steed) I continue to envision attempting it again. Building on the successes and learning from the failures of OCS & BLCLII, I still want to provide a valuable resource for the community.  I have no doubt it will succeed. 

To illustrate what those past days offered, here is a simple slideshow/video of Marion teaching English to the OCS students during the time she and her husband were anchored in Port Bonbonon, Tambobo.  It is just one example of many wonderful projects brought into being by people being drawn together for a common good.  With each successive helping hand offered, like the single grains of sands we each are as people, those grains of sand were 'brought to the building site' to create something bigger than any of us could have done individually, alone. 

Oh, and what were the conflicting ideas for presenting this post?  I believe our lives are Art.  What we do every day, with every choice we make, combines to create the story of ourselves, our 'book' or our 'portrait' of what we value.  Marion's skillful teaching to these children is an art she studied, then creatively expressed for the meaningful enjoyment of others.  

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